Club Sports News

Team, instructors to hold women's self-defense class Nov. 18

This is the poster advertising the Nov. 18 event in the Wiseman Wrestling Room, located at Williams Stadium.

Liberty University's tae kwon do team is hosting a women's self-defense seminar Nov. 18 from 7-8:30 p.m. in the Wiseman Wrestling Room, located on the visitor's locker room side of Williams Stadium.

Jamie Ridgeway, head instructor at the Renaissance Academy of Martial Arts in downtown Lynchburg, will be one of the instructors.

"Jamie is also a certified mixed martial arts instructor and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu instructor," Liberty Head Coach Jesse Wilson said, noting he also was a coach on the television show "The Ultimate Fighter."

Ridgeway will be assisted by Tom Childress, who works with Wilson on the security force at Babcock & Wilcox. Childress holds black belts in two styles of Kung fu and was a former police defensive tactics instructor.

Wilson, who has 30 years of experience in tae kwon do, also will demonstrate techniques during the seminar. He served in the U.S. Army as part of the 10th Special Forces for eight years before working for the Danville Police Department for 15 years as a member of the SWAT team.

"We will be drawing from all of our training backgrounds — Special Forces, Police, and Martial Arts — to show the most effective techniques to escape from a would-be attacker," Wilson said.

Members of Liberty's team will be aiding in teaching the self-defense tactics, either as assistants or attackers for participants to fend off.

The event is designed to teach women how to escape from — not fight — a potential attacker. The seminar, open to all Liberty female students and faculty, as well as relatives ages 13 and older, also serves as a fundraiser for Liberty's tae kwon do team. There is a $10 charge for all participants. Interested participants can email Wilson at jwilson88@liberty.edu to register.

All of the techniques shown are very basic common-sense strategies to escape from abduction and violent attacks, which tend to increase toward the end of the year, Wilson said.

"I would love to make sure that the women of LU are safe and better prepared for these types of incidents," Wilson said. "While most people feel that things like this would not happen to them, I personally have four friends who have lost loved ones," as victims of violent assaults.